Jacob
Torn between Jacob and another name? Compare them side by side →
Meaning
traditionally "holder of the heel" or "supplanter," from the Hebrew Ya'aqov, the patriarch who wrestled the angel and fathered the twelve tribes; a Jewish and Puritan staple that ruled the US boys' charts for over a decade around the 2000s. Jake comes free
Goes by Coby, Jake, Jeb. See all nicknames
The story
Jacob goes back to the Hebrew Ya'aqov, the patriarch born grasping his twin's heel, who later wrestles the angel and receives the new name Israel. The name's hidden reach is the good part: English James descends from the very same Latin source, Iacobus worn down to Iacomus, so Jacob and James are one name in two coats. Spanish smuggles it further still: Santiago is santo plus Yago, an old Spanish form of the same name, a patriarch hiding inside a city and a pilgrimage. America eventually made the old name its favorite, and Jacob stood as the number one boys' name from 1999 to 2012. Painting adds Jacob Lawrence, whose Migration Series told the Great Migration in sixty panels, and Brazil adds Jacob do Bandolim, Mandolin Jacob, named for the instrument he mastered. A heel-grasper of a name that ended up all over the map.
Jacob across languages
One shared root links 18 names across 5 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Ya'aqov, traditionally "holder of the heel, supplanter"; Late Latin split it into Jacobus and Iacomus, giving Europe both Jacob and James
The constellation
12 more branches of this family
On record since at least the 17th century: Jacob van Ruisdael, Dutch landscape painter.
How popular is Jacob around the world?
In the United States, 45,220 babies were named Jacob between 2020 and 2025. In Norway, 116 boys were given the name Jacob in 2025.
Jacob is on the official records of the United States, Norway, South Australia, Scotland, Puerto Rico, Canada, England and Wales, Ireland, New Zealand, New South Wales, Mexico City, Chile, France, Austria, Argentina, Spain, Poland and Brazil.
Jacob crosses languages: it is in the latest top 300 of an English-speaking birth record and of a Spanish-speaking one. The full list: English and Spanish
United States
1 in 480
In the United States, 45,220 babies were named Jacob between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Jacob peaked in the 2000s. Jacob went to 16,028 US babies in 2015 and 6,152 in 2025, 38% of the earlier figure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Norway
1 in 240register 2026
In Norway, 116 boys were given the name Jacob in 2025.
share of the boys on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
South Australia
1 in 3202017
In South Australia, 57 boys were registered as Jacob in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Scotland
1 in 320
In Scotland, 141 boys named Jacob were registered in 2024, the 27th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Puerto Rico
1 in 370
In Puerto Rico, 49 babies were named Jacob in 2025, and 1,663 have carried the name since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Canada
1 in 420
In Canada, 875 boys named Jacob were born in 2024, the 19th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 470
In England and Wales, 1,258 boys named Jacob were born in 2025, the 41st most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Ireland
1 in 620
In Ireland, 88 boys named Jacob were born in 2025, the 62nd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
New Zealand
1 in 1,200
In New Zealand, 49 boys named Jacob were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
New South Wales
#42 · 2025
In New South Wales, 157 boys named Jacob were registered in 2025, ranked 42nd in that year’s top 100 for boys.
share of that year’s top-100 registrations
New South Wales (not all of Australia) publishes only each year’s 100 most popular names per sex, so a missing year means below that top 100, not rare. Source: NSW Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, popular baby names
Mexico City City
1 in 1,500
In Mexico City, there were 78 registrations of Jacob in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023 (2 registrations through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Chile
1 in 2,300
In Chile, 79 boys were registered as Jacob in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
France
1 in 3,700
In France, about 175 boys named Jacob were born in 2025, the 299th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Austria
1 in 6,300
In Austria, 12 boys named Jacob were born in 2025, the 412th most common name among boys that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Argentina
1 in 9,200
In Argentina, 72 newborns were given the name Jacob in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Spain
1 in 14,000
In Spain, 3,271 residents are named Jacob, the 578th most common name among men, with a mean age of 30.9 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Poland
1 in 18,000
In Poland, 14 boys named Jacob were born in 2025, the 292nd most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Brazil
1 in 48,000
At the 2022 census, 4,195 people in Brazil were named Jacob, ranked 3,098th, with a median age of 50.
Among people named Jacob living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1960s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 385 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Montevideo City
last on record 1989
Jacob is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
When you meet Jacob
Most people given the name Jacob in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Where Jacob travels
Jewish American · a beloved patriarch name that became one of the most popular names in America
Korean American · supplanter (patriarch, father of the twelve tribes of Israel); a US #1 name for over a decade, popular among Korean American church families too
Hebrew · supplanter, held by the heel
Keep exploring
Names like Jacob · Names that go with Jacob · Nicknames for Jacob · Jewish American baby names · Korean American baby names · Hebrew baby names · Climbers and fallers
The Jacob deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Jacob truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Jacob fits with your family’s names and surname.
Does Jacob fit YOUR family?
nametree reads your family’s names and finds the ones that belong. Free, private, no ads.
Add Jacob to your family’s tree →